The space outside the capital planet of Flin. Destroyed warships drifted silently in the void. Yet, more warships were engaged in fierce combat; starlight, laser beams, and firelight flared up one after another. Citizens of the capital planet, when the weather permitted, could look up and witness the massive battle in the sky. The appearance of every burst of light could signify the destruction of a warship.

Aided by the Kustar people, the rebels had constructed dozens of fortress cannons capable of reaching Level Nine energy levels within the capital planet. They continuously fired deadly beams into the space battle, day and night. No warship could withstand a single strike from a Level Nine cannon. Every time a world-piercing pillar of light shot up from the ground toward the heavens, it often meant the destruction of one, or even several, warships.

On the first day, because the Royal Army was composed of forces from multiple nations, despite having a brief period of tempering through three major battles, they still suffered from disadvantages such as unstable coordination, unwillingness to yield, and lax morale. Under the threat of the Level Nine cannons, they were quickly routed. However, the fighting on the second day took a sharp turn. When the Royal Army attacked the capital planet again, they used the previous day's failure as a feint, luring the main rebel force into a pursuit. The Royal Guard, the core strength of the monarchy, risked massive danger to lead the rebels into a minefield in space. A barrage of explosions inflicted heavy losses upon the rebels.

At least a hundred thousand warships were annihilated within the minefield. The supreme commander of the rebel fleet was a master at the peak of Level Three. Deceiving his intuition with a trap was nearly impossible, yet somehow, the Royal Army succeeded, shocking many military observers.

The heavily battered rebels were forced to evacuate the capital planet, but before leaving, they set fires, burning down all the food depots on the planet and destroying all public and production facilities, leaving the inhabitants without energy, light, water, and all other necessary life supplies.

In the rebels’ own words, they would rather see the city destroyed than surrender it to the "evil feudal monarchy."

The Flin Kingdom reclaimed the capital planet, only to immediately plunge into the massive undertaking of restoring civic functions and rescuing the starving populace. The monarchy knew that if their response was slow, the rebels would inevitably manufacture a flood of news reports portraying the monarchy as cold-blooded, cruel, and inactive—sitting by while the people starved. The rebels had already started doing just that, using what seemed to be irrefutable evidence, no one knew from where they obtained it, to smear the monarchy with bucket after bucket of filth.

However, there were still many clear-sighted individuals. The rebels' negative propaganda did not affect the massive prestige the monarchy gained from recovering the capital planet. Within three days of the victory, three more kingdoms pledged fealty.

The Flin Kingdom’s restoration efforts also gained more support. Within a week, they not only restored basic functions to the major cities on the capital planet, but the newly joined fleets also brought their total military strength back to the level they held before the battle for the capital, even slightly exceeding it.

The rebels, on the other hand, were much more miserable. They lost forty percent of their forces in the battle for the capital. Morale plummeted, and deserters attempting to seize escape pods to flee the army were a daily occurrence on the warships. The prestige of the rebel high command suffered a severe blow.

Due to harassment from Yang Ying's Terran Mercenary Corps in the rear, they had already lost two important logistical bases, Dorun Star and Gummik Star, cutting off a quarter of their supplies. To recover, they would first have to expend effort eradicating the heavily armed resistance groups and armed workers on those two planets, and then transport a large batch of production machinery to replenish the factories that had been turned into ruins. Oh, and they also needed vast amounts of industrial raw materials—the Terran Mercenary Corps passed through like locusts, leaving nothing behind.

Whenever the higher-ranking rebel officials thought of the Terran Mercenary Corps, they ground their teeth in hatred. The Terran Mercenary Corps did not have a large military force, and their firepower was merely average. But they possessed several specializations that the rebels could not match. Just thinking about those thirteen peak Level Three masters, the invisible carrier-borne aircraft contingent, and the ship-to-ship cannons with ultra-long attack ranges gave them headaches.

The Terran Mercenary Corps maximized these specializations; even forces ten times their size would only end up being devoured piece by piece.

Now, the legend of those thirteen invisible demons had spread from the surviving soldiers in the rear to the troops in the main force, igniting a wave of panic. According to the nearly mentally shattered soldiers, those thirteen demons were more terrifying than the most horrific monsters in mythology; they were unseen and untouchable. The only way to perceive their existence was at the moment one was struck down by a torrent of beams. The terrifying part was that they gave their enemies ample opportunity to experience their presence, and their enemies could not refuse this opportunity.

There were even more fantastical versions, claiming the appearance and voices of the thirteen invisible demons were so horrifying they seemed alien to this universe, bringing death and fear wherever they went. They were companions of death; the best choice upon seeing them was to abandon resistance, perhaps ensuring a quicker death. Of course, surrendering before encountering them was the best way to preserve one’s life.

Normally, such rumors would be dismissed with a wry smile, but now, with the continuous setbacks in the rebel offensive, from officers down to the lowest ranks, doubt about the future spread, turning these rumors into excuses to evade reality and shirk responsibility. They escalated further, so much so that the number thirteen even became an unlucky digit for the rebels. They would count up to twelve, then skip directly to fourteen, erasing thirteen from the numerical sequence, much like how this number was treated in certain places on Earth.

The rebel high command realized the situation too late. They were forced to employ iron-fisted measures, heavily punishing all rumor mongers with severe penalties, such as isolation, confinement, physical punishment, and in severe cases, outright execution.

This high pressure did not eliminate the rumors; it only made their spread more covert and further battered morale.

The result of the spreading rumors was a drastic drop in rebel resistance whenever Yang Ying's fleet arrived at other planets. Initially, there was symbolic resistance, but eventually, the moment the thirteen phantom fighters appeared, the rebels would cry out, "The invisible demons are here!" and the entire front line would instantly collapse, with soldiers surrendering or deserting.

For a time, Yang Ying and his men were majestic, invincible and unconquerable wherever their blades pointed. After leaving Gummik Star, they captured three more cities in quick succession, taking over three other planets.

By this time, the fame of the Terran Mercenary Corps was fully established. People in the Royal Army camp frequently mentioned them: an outfit of three hundred and twenty warships capturing five planets without losing a single vessel, terrifying the rebels into wetting themselves, and even managing to rob the Kustar people—what an utterly fierce mercenary group!

Only a few high-ranking members of the Royal Army knew that Yang Ying had robbed the Kustar people. For the majority, what they heard were just repeated rumors, exaggerated along the way. Only the monarchy and Cinnedy, who maintained constant contact with Idnie, knew the true extent of the facts.

When Yang Ying captured the fifth planet, he also learned of these developments through the Flin network. He was quite surprised to discover that his reputation had grown so immense; he hadn't anticipated such a turn of events beforehand.

Furthermore, according to staff analysis, the rebels would soon take action against their fleet. They would likely deploy a massive fleet of at least ten thousand vessels to eliminate the source of the rumors.

In this light, eliminating the rumors while simultaneously boosting morale seemed like an excellent option for the rebels.

The three hundred and twenty battlecruisers sailed across the vast, boundless expanse of space. There was no star system around them, just an infinite vacuum where no gaze could fall upon them. Under the universe’s large-scale structure, hiding was incredibly easy.

A small portion of the battlecruisers in the fleet had mottled surfaces; they had sustained damage in previous battles, and many maintenance drones were working on the exterior hull, repairing them. Inside the battlecruisers, others were busy reconnecting tangled electronic circuits using laser cutters and welders. Some of the components and materials they used were obtained by Yang Ying from the floating continent, all conducted secretly, away from Idnie's knowledge.

In the officer's mess hall aboard the Behemoth, Yang Ying and Howard occupied a table. Yang Ying had a cup of tea before him, while Howard held a cup of coffee.

Howard took a sip of his coffee, set the cup down, and said, "Sir, based on the latest intelligence, if nothing unexpected occurs, the rebels should be prepared. At our next few targets, they will certainly try every means possible to stall us until their main force arrives to wipe us out. Under the current circumstances, landing on planets will become extremely dangerous."

"I share your concern," Yang Ying replied. "We have swept five planets clean. The resources and machinery plundered almost entirely fill the Human territories on the floating continent. It’s about time we stopped to rest and regroup."

"The repairs will be completed in another three hours, and then we can set course back to the Flin capital. The monarchy moving its main base from Phenis to the capital also shows their resolve, wouldn't you say?" Howard remarked.

"Mmm. The balance of power between the Royal Army and the rebels is vastly different now than it was two months ago. The Royal Army has not only recovered its disadvantage but has also seized the initiative," Yang Ying said, picking up his teacup for a small sip. "I suspect the Kustar people had some role in helping the Royal Army lure the rebel fleet into the trap during that crucial battle for the capital. To be able to mask the intuition of a peak Level Three master—their research into mental power is truly profound. They truly deserve their reputation as a race that produced a Fourth Level existence."

After finishing his tea and coffee, Yang Ying and Howard stood up to leave. As they exited the mess hall, Yang Ying paused, contemplating for a moment, and then said, "Howard, before we head to the capital, I need to go to one place first—to take a head. Perhaps more than one."